


The Sweet Scent of Ink

by Sterling_Canary



Series: Writer's Month 2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Gen, Getting Tattooed, I Did an Inordinate Amount of Research for This, Pushing My Rarepair Agenda, Small Talk, Writer's Month 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25649680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sterling_Canary/pseuds/Sterling_Canary
Summary: It's a slow day at Monastery Ink Tattoos, and Claude's been left to watch the shop. Luckily, a client comes through the door with a request, and suddenly, the day is significantly less boring.(Writer's Month 2020 Prompt 1: Tattoo Artist/Flower Shop AU)
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Claude von Riegan
Series: Writer's Month 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859518
Kudos: 14
Collections: Writer's Month 2020





	The Sweet Scent of Ink

Claude was standing idly in Monastery Ink Tattoos. It was an incredibly slow day; so slow, in fact, that his fellow artists had already left on their lunch break. The only reason he didn’t join them is because he wanted to be there in case there _was_ a customer today.

  
Suddenly, the parlor door opened, and a young woman wearing jeans and an orange polo shirt walked in. Definitely not the type of person you’d _expect_ to be in a tattoo parlor, but everyone has to start somewhere.

  
“Welcome to Monastery Ink Tattoos,” Claude greeted. “Here for a tattoo?”

  
“Yep!” the girl smiled. “If it’s possible, could I get this design on my right wrist?” She pulled out her phone from her pocket and showed Claude a picture of two lavender flowers tied together with a blue ribbon.

  
Claude examined the image on her phone. “I think I can do that. Would you mind sending that to me?”

  
“Uh, sure! How?”

  
“Send it through email.” He pointed to the email painted on their wall as he grabbed the studio iPad.

  
“I sent it.”

  
“Thank you. Mind holding out your arm?” She did as he asked, and Claude snapped a picture of it. After putting both pictures in the Photoshop app and placing the design in the desired location, he turned the iPad around to show his client. “This is _about_ how your tattoo will look. That good?”

  
She examined it before nodding her head in approval. “Looks good!”

  
“Great. Let me get you the paperwork, then we can settle your payment and get started on your tattoo.”

  
He reached behind the counter where they kept the paperwork (It was Edelgard who decided that’s where they would be stored) and passed her the forms, along with a clipboard and a pen. As she filled it out, he got the stencil ready for transfer.

  
Soon, she completed the paperwork and settled the payment. Claude set her papers down to be filed once he’d done the job, but not before glancing at the name on the paper: Annette Fantine Dominic.

  
“Now that that’s settled,” Claude said, “go ahead and sit down on that chair on the far left, the one with the deer symbol on it. I’ve gotta get my tools ready.”

  
She sat down as instructed as he gathered all of the necessary supplies: ink caps, a new pack of needles, a cup of water, some ointment, and a stick of deodorant. As he gathered everything, Annette decided to make a bit of small talk.

  
“Slow day?” she asked.

  
“Yep,” he answered. “My partners have gone out for lunch, leaving me all alone to man the place. But I don’t mind.”

  
“Yeah, it’s a slow day at the florists where I work, too. It’s so slow, I managed to leave early to get this done.”

  
Claude laughed. “Well, lucky for that, huh?” He set his supplies down, put on gloves, and grabbed the stick of deodorant to prepare the stencil transfer. “Do you work at Fódlan’s Flowers next door?”

  
“I do, actually!”

  
“What a small world we live in. Is that why you decided on lavender?” He placed the stencil on her forearm, and peeled back the design. It had transferred perfectly.

  
“Kinda. I mean, I knew I wanted a flower tattoo, but every flower is so pretty! Linhardt wasn’t much help on deciding, either, so I had to turn to my best friend. This is actually her favorite flower.”

  
"That’s sweet.” He took some of the ointment and rubbed it over the design before inserting the first ink cap and starting to trace. “I’m going to need you to hold still for this. Don’t want to mess up the linework.”

  
“Of course.” She went silent so he could focus, which of course Claude appreciated, but he was enjoying their conversation. As he worked, he caught Annette admiring all the artwork posted up around their studio, as well as his own tattoos running up and down his forearms out of the corner of his eye.

  
Soon, he finished tracing the stems of the flowers, and dipped the needle in water to switch ink caps.

  
“What’s the story behind _your_ tattoos?” Annette asked. “I told you mine, it’s only fair you tell me yours.”

  
“Touché,” Claude smirked. “Well, all of these symbols,” he held out his right arm for her to see, “Are the crests from long ago. You remember the legends of the Ten Elites, right?”

  
“I do.”

  
“Those legends are where these crests originated from. And this,” he pointed at the one shaped like a moon in the middle of his arm, “is supposedly _my_ ancestor’s crest.”

  
“Wow, that’s really cool!”

  
“Glad you think so. Ready for the next portion?”

  
“Yep.”

  
She went quiet again, and Claude got to work on the ribbon. He heard Edelgard and Dimitri enter the store some time later.

  
“Hello, Claude,” Edelgard greeted as she walked in. “I see you have a client.”

  
“Yep,” he answered, still working on the ribbon. “Paperwork’s on the desk, if either of you want to file it away.”

  
“I’ll get it.” Edelgard grabbed Annette's forms and headed into the backroom.

  
“Did you bring me back lunch?”

  
“Of course,” Dimitri answered, holding up a plastic bag that Claude could smell from his chair. It smelled _good_. Too bad he couldn’t eat it until he finished the lavender. “It’s the least we could do since you volunteered to stay behind.”

  
“What are friends for?” Claude switched the ink cap one more time to start on the actual lavender blooms. This part would take the longest, since it had so much detail.

  
“What kind of tattoo is it?” Edelgard asked, emerging from the backroom.

  
“Lavender flowers on the right wrist,” Claude answered.

  
“Hmm. Nice choice.”

  
“Oh, thank you!” Annette smiled.

  
“I’m not even done with the lines yet, and you’re already getting compliments,” Claude grinned. “Proves I’m the best tattoo artist here, eh?”

  
“Not at all,” Edelgard shook her head. “We all know people come to _me_ the most.”

  
"But I do believe it is _my_ designs that are mostly posted around the studio,” Dimitri countered.

  
“And yet many of _my_ designs are prominently featured on our social media pages.”

  
“Does this happen often?” Annette asked in more hushed tones.

  
“All the time,” he answered. “Just ignore them.” Their arguments continued while he inked.

* * *

“What do you think?” Claude asked once he finished. Another client came in while he was working, and Dimitri was getting started on their tattoo.

  
“Looks good!” Annette admired his handiwork.

  
“It’ll look even better once it’s colored.” He switched his needle and the ink cap, and got started on shading the stems.

  
“I’m really looking forward to showing my friend this,” Annette commented.

  
“She’ll be pleased, I’m sure. Planning on getting any more tattoos after this?”

  
“No, not in the near future. That could change, though!”

  
“Well, if you ever want more, you know where I work.”

* * *

Finally, Claude finished shading in the design, and put more ointment over the finished image. He then put the dressing over the tattoo.

  
“Now, since you’ve never gotten a tattoo before, you’ll want to pay close attention,” Claude said. “Don’t take that off for the first 24 hours. Once that 24 hours is up, wash it with antibacterial soap and water, and apply moisturizer to it twice a day. Don't rebandage it, and do _not_ pick at it. After that, for the next 2-4 weeks, repeat that process twice a day. Take cold showers, and wear plenty of sunscreen on that area. Don’t wear anything that could stick to the tattoo as it heals.”

“Okay, that sounds simple enough,” Annette said, standing up from the chair.

  
“You also get a written copy of those instructions, don't worry.” He reached behind the counter to grab one of the slips they had on hand and gave it to her. They bid each other goodbye before Claude sat back to watch Dimitri work on his client’s piece.

  
Claude thought he might have to visit Fódlan’s Flowers tomorrow. He never had a reason to before, but that’s only because he didn’t know about the very charming girl who worked there.

  
Perhaps he’d buy some lavender, as well.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first year attempting this challenge, and I'm really looking forward to it! Criticism is always appreciated.


End file.
